Soccer Drops Regular Season Finale Despite 27-8 Edge in Shots

Thursday, October 25

Starkville

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

9-6-2, 2-6-2SEC

LSU

11-6-1, 5-4-1SEC

LSU

Mississippi State

Soccer Drops Regular Season Finale Despite 27-8 Edge in Shots

October 25, 2018 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

by Brian Ogden, Assistant Coordinator/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's soccer team got out to an early lead, but ultimately dropped a 2-1 decision to LSU to close the regular season on a rainy Thursday night.

The loss ended the Bulldogs chances of making next week's SEC Tournament as they finish conference play at 2-6-2 with eight points in the standings.

"We didn't make the plays in the box and they did," head coach Tom Anagnost said. "That's the game. It is a very unforgiving game. I commend our players for working their tails off, for being the hardest working team out there, for outplaying them between the 18-yard lines the entire game, and creating far more chances."

The Bulldogs outshot LSU, 27-8, and forced seven saves in the match.

Freshman Zakirah McGillivary opened the scoring in the eighth minute. She stole the ball off a defender's foot for a breakaway and shot low past the keeper for her eighth goal of the year, which tied her for eighth in MSU single-season history.

In the 23^rd minute, it looked like State would go up by two goals. Senior Carly Mauldin fired a rocket off the crossbar from 35 yards out, but LSU quickly countered. Less than a minute later, the Tigers' Molly Thompson scored on a ball that appeared to slide through a diving Rhylee DeCrane's wet gloves.

At the 33-minute mark, LSU struck again when Adrienne Richardson put a ball into the upper corner of the goalframe from 30 yards out.

The Bulldogs rallied in the final 30 minutes of the match, looking for an equalizer. Senior Courtney Robicheaux took seven of her career-high eight shots in that span. Twice, it looked like she had evened the score, but she narrowly missed her target.

"We created so many chances," Anagnost said. "That is hard to do. It is really hard to just create them. We had key players where we want them to do it, but we have to execute and we didn't."

With a free kick in the 60^th minute, Robicheaux struck the crossbar from the top of the box. Her best look of the night came with the goalkeeper out of position in the 87^th minute, but her shot went wide of the post.

MSU will now await its postseason fate. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 5.

"I think our chances are highly likely for the postseason, and that's what we are going to be preparing for," Anagnost said. "I think we have a very strong possibility of hosting. We've got two top wins and zero bad losses. Our worst loss is going to be somewhere in the (RPI) 40's."

For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSOC." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."